Thanks to Marianne we're all cutting in fringes - here's how to do it

We spoke to hair industry pros about how to copy the coolest haircut of the moment - and how to trim your fringe if you've already got one

Connell's chain might be the show-stealer of Normal People (be still our beating hearts!), but Marianne's fringe has been getting a fair bit of attention too; just the right combo of undone and chic, her eyebrow skimmer has got us all dreaming about taking to the scissors and cutting in a face-framer, with London salon Live True London reporting an influx of enquiries in fringes in the last few weeks.

"Fringes have been in and out over the last couple of years," says stylist Ricky Walters, founder of Salon 64. "It's twists on the classic look that puts a fringe in fashion. Very curly fringes or heavy, undone fringes like Marianne's are a great example. Dainty school-girl fringes are out. It is about attitude and statement fringes."

Now he's really sold us on cutting one in. Normally we'd never dream of cutting our own hair (too many teenage hair disasters have left us scarred) and Ricky is with us on this; "To cut in a fringe from scratch I would recommend waiting for your hairdresser top open," he cautions. "That said, if your patience is wearing thin, there are rules to follow when it comes to cutting in a fringe."

How to cut in a fringe

Map out the shape of your fringe

"First you need to map out the shape of your fringe," says Ricky. "Section a triangle shape with the top point of the triangle facing towards the crown of your head. The other two corners of the triangle will be spread over the width you wish to have your fringe across your face. Once you're happy, section all the hair which will not be fringe out of the way."

Cut from the middle

"Taking just the section between your eyebrows (imagine where a monobrow would join), cut the desired length by using a comb as a ruler. I would suggest going in stages starting longer and gradually getting shorter.

"Having cut the first section to a length you are happy with, use this as a guide to cut the two sections to the left and right of it. You want these sections to be longer, so imagine you are cutting a half moon shape."

Don't go too blunt

"If you don't want your fringe too blunt take the hair and lift it away from your head and directly in the air. Gently chop into the ends by half a cm, tops. This technique will give you a long, heavy choppy look for a fringe."

How to cut a fringe like Marianne's

If, like us, Daisy Edgar Jones' hair is your ultimate goal you need to aim for a relatively heavy fringe; "It includes a lot of hair so it’s ideal for anyone with thicker hair and plenty of it," says Ricky. "It's the cool kid of the fringe world. It's taken quite far back on the head and is wide so gives attitude to any classic cut. It is slightly grown out looking and chopped into adding to the rock 'n' roll chic.

"Marianne’s fringe has no blunt lines really and is relatively soft. This probably will not work for those with strong curl or movement in their hair. Follow the steps as above - the key is in the cutting into it part at the end as this will give it the choppy look Marianne is rocking."

How to trim your fringe

There's nothing more annoying than an overgrown fringe getting in your eyes; Doctor Sophie Shotter is one person who took her fringe into her owns hands during lockdown, filming a quick video tutorial for us with the help of her stylist Jordan Favier at Gielly Green.

Jordan advised Sophie to style her hair as normal before putting a piece of Sellotape across the fringe, leaving any hair she wanted to cut below the selloptape, before trimming along the piece of tape. It does create quite a blunt line so you just need to cut it into as advised above to soften.

Even TV's shaggiest fringe-wearer Claudia Winkleman has reached breaking point with her bangs, taking to Instagram with stylist George Northwood to trim her fringe as part of of Head and Shoulders' #ApartButTogether campaign with mental health charity Calm.

Not to worry if you don't have a stylist on hand to video call you during the process, we called upon the experts for a quick tutorial on trimming your own fringe.

Always cut dry hair

"It is important to cut your fringe with dry hair; if you cut wet hair it'll bounce up when dry and be shorter than you intended," says Stephanie Ferreira, stylist at Live True London.

Style your hair as usual

"Check your fringe is looking how it looks 99 per cent of the time before trimming it," says Ricky. "You don't want it straighter than usual or curlier than usual as this can skew the length you need it to be."

Put the rest of your hair up to avoid cutting any stray strands accidentally.

Don't pull your fringe down when cutting it

"Pulling at your hair makes the fringe appear longer than it really is and means it will ping up once it is cut," warns Ricky. "This is how most disasters are caused. Instead, try and cut just using your comb as a guide."

Use your comb as a ruler

Comb through your fringe and stop where you want to cut from (i.e. any hair you want off should fall below the teeth of your comb)

Cut the middle of your fringe first

"Cut from the middle and move on to the sides," says Stephanie. "You will need to control what is cut so that it doesn't end up too short; only half a centimetre at the time will be enough."

"When you're trimming the sides of the fringe keep hair exactly where it would naturally fall to avoid it being uneven," Ricky adds.

Use the tips of your scissors

"Most of the time people cut directly with the main blades of their scissors but this can result in your fringe looking blunt," warns Stephanie. "To avoid any bluntness whilst creating your fringe you must cut with the tips of the scissor, angling them slightly towards the fringe."

What to do if your fringe is too blunt

"If you have cut your fringe too blunt don’t panic," says Ricky. "You can lift up the fringe either in your comb or in your fingers and using the scissors gently chop into the ends of the fringe. Don't go too deep; no more than approx half a cm. Use the tips of the scissors and chop directly into the fringe."

Around the site

Health & Beauty

Life

About Get the Gloss

Get The Gloss is the online destination for expert health and beauty. We work with leading makeup artists, hair stylists, nutritionists, personal trainers, trichologists and wellness practitioners to bring our readers the expert view on news and trends in beauty and wellness, and create specialist guides to help you be your happiest, healthiest self.

Led by founders Susannah Taylor and Sarah Vine, our editorial team works with our favourite writers and industry insiders from Amelia Freer to Peta Bee and Imogen Edwards-Jones, and with some of the world's leading brands in beauty and wellness, from Chanel and Estée Lauder to Barrecore and Hello Fresh - to bring you all the information and inspiration you need for skincare, haircare, makeup, fitness and nutrition in one place.

Affiliate links disclosure: Throughout Get The Gloss we occasionally use affiliate links in our content in order to earn commission on anything our readers might buy via those links. You won’t pay a penny more, but the small commission helps Get The Gloss to continue to bring you content every day. All opinions expressed in product reviews are our own. We are also a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.